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UBank Unveils RoboChat, Australia's First Virtual Assistant for Home Loan Applications Integrated with IBM Watson

One of Australia’s leading digital banks taps cognitive technology to simplify the home loan application process with innovative virtual assistan




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24 Things, plus standard disclaimer. Thing 11.

I've had a request for the Angela fish, so... here she is. Caution: not terribly Christmassy. 









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Distance runner Ritzenhein announces retirement

Distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein announced his retirement Thursday, closing a career during which he made three Olympic appearances.




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John Constantine: Hellblazer #5 (2020) - "Scrubbing Up, Part Two"

Posted by: laughing_tree



Expect evil ravens, hipsters performing pun-magic and John getting drunker than you’ve ever seen him before. Fun. -- Si Spurrier

Read more... )



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Ošetřovné se zvyšuje. Spočítejte si na kalkulačce, kolik nově dostanete

Ze 60 na 80 procent denního vyměřovacího základu vzroste ošetřovné pro rodiče, kteří zůstali doma s potomky v souvislosti s uzavřením škol a školek kvůli koronavirové krizi. Senát novelu schválil v úterý 28. dubna 2020. Předlohu nyní dostane k podpisu prezident Miloš Zeman. Spočítejte si orientačně na kalkulačce iDNES.cz, kolik dostanete.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

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World film project: Pakistan

Thanks to ambyr's rec, we watched Dukhtar ['Daughter'], (2014, directed Afia Nathaniel).

ambyr described this very well: it does include misogyny and violence, but ultimately it's a hopeful film. The film feels almost like a stage play; it is almost entirely about the characters, a mother trying to save her young daughter, and the roadster who reluctantly helps them. The camera doesn't dwell either on the beautiful scenery (there are mountains in the background, but no gorgeous cinematic shots) or on the violence; there are quite a few shootings in the film, but it's never gory because it's not about gun porn, it's about trying to escape from that violent world of gang / tribal violence. Quite a bit of it is filmed in shaky-cam style as if it were just incidental video of people's lives.

The characters are all really vivid, and I cared about them a lot, partly because the film is so careful to avoid piling on the drama. The tribal enforcers who go around shooting almost-random people in order to make people fear them are squalid, not glamorous. The elder who is desperate enough to sell his 10-year-old daughter for protection is basically pathetic rather than evil. The main character, Samiya Mumtaz' Allah Rakhi is beautiful and brave, but not really a heroine, she's desperate and runs away with her daughter with almost no plan for how they're going to survive. In other words she's really plausible for a barely literate woman married at 15 and sent to a remote, very patriarchal village in the mountains.

The romance between Allah Rakhi and Sohail is likewise really understated. He's not a white knight saving the princess, and in fact they even joke about how much he doesn't fit that romantic stereotype. He's a troubled person who has survived and escaped from the Taliban training camps, and he doesn't really want to get involved but can't just abandon a desperate mother and daughter to their fate. They have a certain amount of tenderness, but don't instantly fall in love and it's not clear whether their relationship will last, or whether it will end up being romantic or more friend-based. I also really liked that the dashing, handsome man who is avuncular with the kid and flirts with the mother in a rather aggressive way turns out to be a bad guy, not the love interest.

The ending is really odd. The credits just happen in the middle of a desperate car-ride taking the heroine to hospital bleeding from a gunshot wound. I think we're meant to infer that she survives but it's really not clear.

Next up: Nigeria, our first African country. Any recommendations of Nigerian films? Ideally from the 21st century, and not primarily about violence or depressing real-world history.

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Histogram: You have to know the past to understand the present by Tomas Petricek

Histogram: You have to know the past to understand the present by Tomas Petricek, University of Kent

Programs are created through a variety of interactions. A programmer might write some code, run it interactively to check whether it works, use copy and paste, apply a refactoring or choose an item from an auto-complete list. Programming research often forgets about these and represents programs as the resulting text. Consequently, thinking about such interactions is often out of scope. This essay shifts focus from programs to a more interesting question of programming.

We represent programs as lists of interactions such as triggering an auto-complete and choosing an option, declaring a value, introducing a variable or evaluating a piece of code. We explore a number of consequences of this way of thinking about programs. First, if we create functions by writing concrete code using a sample input and applying a refactoring, we do not lose the sample input and can use it later for debugging. Second, if we treat executing code interactively as an interaction and store the results, we can later use this information to give more precise suggestions in auto-complete. Third, by moving away from a textual representation, we can display the same program as text, but also in a view inspired by spreadsheets. Fourth, we can let programmers create programs by directly interacting with live previews as those interactions can be recorded and as a part of program history.

We discuss the key ideas through examples in a simple programming environment for data exploration. Our focus in this essay is more on principles than on providing fine tuned user experience. We keep our environment more explicit, especially when this reveals what is happening behind the scenes. We aim to show that seeing programs as lists of interactions is a powerful change of perspective that can help us build better programming systems with novel features that make programming easier and more accessible. The data exploration environment in this interactive essay may not yet be that, but it gives a glimpse of the future.









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I Finally Understand Tech Support




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A basic understanding of youtube copyright

Posting videos on YouTube can be a great way to show off your video editing skills, post video blogs, or even your own mini series. Because YouTube is the largest video sharing site it’s also a great way to promote products, or your website to thousands new potential viewers. But what happens when you post a video and it’s either slapped with a copyright infringement or banned all together, and what are the consequences to your account?




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understanding google and alexa rank

Look at enough blogs or websites and you’ve probably ran into a display on their homepage showing their viewers their Alexa and Google Page Rank. But what exactly do these ranks mean and what can they do to help get your site noticed on the web. Here’s a basic description of what these two tools do





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This Remixed Church Sermon Became an Instant Thanksgiving Classic

What's your grandma cooking for Thanksgiving? These lucky people are dancing, parodying and rapping about all the delicious potential for tasty holiday foods.




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You are what you eat! Using bad boy carbons to understand food webs

Remember all the details about the periodic table from high school chemistry?  Yeah, me neither.  Don’t worry – we will get through this together. Let’s…




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F&S houden voldoende afstand tijdens het winkelen (NRC, vr, 01-05-20)




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What to Do If You and Your Roommate Disagree on the Concept of “Social Distancing”

Here's what to say if they're a bit more lax on the definition. READ MORE...




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Length, distance and Michelson–Morley experiment

There are 2 types of length contraction, the physical meaning of each is explained below with the help of the example shown in Figure 1. The Earth and the star are stationary and the spaceship mobile. The 2 types of length contraction are: 1) Object contraction: In the frame of the Earth the length of...




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What if my personal assistants need to self-isolate?

Dr. Ossie Stuart is an academic researcher and an independent equalities consultant, who has written key works on race, disability and social care. He is a wheelchair user and firmly believes that we are all entitled to fully participate in society and have control over our own destinies. These two ideas have heavily influenced everything he has done, and will do, in his working life.

Ossie receives a direct payment and uses it to employ personal assistants. Michelle from Iriss had a conversation with him about how he’s managing in the current crisis.

He offers some helpful advice and has also created a blog, titled Social care: a user's voice to share his views.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes.




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Understanding, celebrating, sharing. Be part of it!

Iriss is working to raise the profile of the social services workforce by sharing practitioner experiences of working in care and support. We know that often, research about the social services workforce fails to reach those who work most closely with those supported by services, so we need your help to make sure that your voice is heard.

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Can SDS support recovery from substance misuse?

Pilotlight says 'Yes!'.

Using a design approach, Pilotlight aims to demonstrate how to design support for seldom heard groups, provide more personalised and appropriate services and increase the marketplace of support providers.

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Winners of the Standards Quest announced

During the 2017 Conference & Expo in Boston, the Standards Quest took participants through a journey of the Standards Development Process.  Participants answered questions on the Public Input, Public Comment, Technical Meeting (NITMAM), and




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Understanding and Responding to the Needs of Carers of People with Dementia in the UK, US and Beyond

This research compares the different approaches to supporting carers of people with dementia across the UK, US and beyond.  Carried out by the University of Birmingham, this work explores the role and experience of carers in different national contexts, highlighting good practice examples and making policy and practice recommendations.  Unsurprisingly perhaps, the report highlights just how much we have in common with other countries in trying to make available effective, personalised supports against a backdrop of increased demand and diminishing resource.  Interestingly, the report explores the language of ‘respite’ which it suggests has ‘negative overtones’ and proposes a more creative approache to service provision is needed.




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15.3: Yanni vs Laurel, the Social Distancing Edition

We are isolating together for this freewheeling hour of silliness where we take your Harry Potter questions and have some fun.

ALSO, SOME NEWS: Now there are TWO Patreons: One for just PotterCast, one for Roll 9 3/4 and all the other Mischief Media shows. BOTH get you access to our discord, where there are Harry Potter, gaming, television, movies. cooking, crafting, and a ton of other amazing conversations happening. PLUS lots of amazing bonus content updated weekly.

PotterCast's Patreon
Mischief Media Patreon

Also visit Mischief Merch!  We have so much cool swag there.

Also, there is a LOT of content to entertain you on your quarantine on the Mischief twitch channel — and there will be PotterCast streaming there soon. Watch the hashtag #MischiefFromHome for more!





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Senior Care Assistant Out Reach - NHS Grampian, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire


NHS Grampian - Senior Care Assistant's Self-Management Outreach Post (Aberdeen City) Location: Based Dee View Court – Aberdeen Salary: £16,517-£17,648 per annum (Band 3) Hours: Full...




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A Better Understanding of NFPA 70E: Conducting Risk Assessments for Electrical Safety Month

  Rather than a blog on manufacturer’s responsibility, this blog is about risk assessment. Once again it is May and National Electrical Safety Month, sponsored by Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) to raise awareness of




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One year after Pulse Nightclub tragedy, new NFPA standard for preparedness and response to active shooter and/or hostile events being developed

As the nation marks the one-year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub massacre in Orlando this week, a group of experts on active shooter/hostile incident response will assemble at National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) headquarters to develop NFPA 3000, Standard for Preparedness and Response to Active Shooter and/or Hostile Events. It is expected that the initial standard will be completed by early 2018; then the public will have the opportunity to offer input for immediate review.




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Where Things Stand: Breaking Their Own Rules

During the Passover, first daughter Ivanka Trump was shredded in the media for traveling to her father’s resort to celebrate,...




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Where Things Stand: Political Prayers

President Trump plans to participate in the White House’s National Day of Prayer service in the Rose Garden this afternoon....




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Where Things Stand: This Is Going To Backfire

Another member of the inner circle has tested positive for COVID-19. MSNBC and CNN are both reporting that a member...




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Studio Precht designs a fingerprint-like park for social distancing

Studio Precht has turned the rules of social distancing into a design guideline for Parc de la Distance, an innovative park proposal that ensures all visitors will be separated at least 6 feet from one another at all times. Created in the shape of a fingerprint with spiraling ridges represented by tall hedge rows, the conceptual park takes inspiration from both French baroque gardens and Japanese Zen gardens. The hedge-lined paths slowly spiral toward a center, where fountains are located.[...]




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Solar-powered bubble shield focuses on physical distancing in public

As of May 5, more than 3.5 million people in 215 countries around the world have been infected with the novel coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization. While the world continues to socially distance, designers and creatives are beginning to imagine different ways to protect people from the virus; case in point, this futuristic bubble shield by DesignLibero.[...]





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Podcast Episode 290: Voss’ Last Stand

In 1917, German pilot Werner Voss had set out for a patrol over the Western Front when he encountered two flights of British fighters, including seven of the best pilots in the Royal Flying Corps. In this week’s episode of the Futility Closet podcast we’ll describe the drama that followed, which has been called “one of the most extraordinary aerial combats of the Great War.” We’ll also honk at red lights in Mumbai and puzzle over a train passenger’s mistake. Intro: The minuet in Haydn’s Piano Sonata in A Major is a palindrome. In 1909, Ulysses, Kansas, moved two miles...




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Instant Pot Goulash

Old-fashioned Instant Pot goulash is a classic family dish that comes together easily in your pressure cooker. Whether you call it goulash, Johnny Marzetti, or American chop suey, you have to agree that this recipe is simply THE BEST! Pressure Cooker Goulash Recipe Readers have been begging me to create an Instant Pot version of […]

The post Instant Pot Goulash appeared first on Dear Crissy.




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Donalyn Miller's Social Distancing #BookADay Challenge!

Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge is usually in the summer. After talking with people on Twitter and Facebook, Donalyn (happily) decided to hold a Coronavirus social distancing #BookADay challenge, so that readers who miss talking with other readers can gather and share.

You can see the "official" #bookaday guidelines on the Nerdy Book Club blog.




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5 Post-Processing Effects to Instantly Enhance Your Photos

The post 5 Post-Processing Effects to Instantly Enhance Your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Do you want some quick and easy ways to improve your images with post-processing effects? Look no further. Because this article will give you 5 excellent post-processing effects to take your photos to the next level, instantly. And best of all: You can use them in pretty much any editing program and on pretty much […]

The post 5 Post-Processing Effects to Instantly Enhance Your Photos appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.




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Frontier Airlines offers social distancing bookings

Middle seat blocked for USD39 fee




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Qatar Airways making 'substantial' job cuts

Cabin crew will be downsized




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Makeshift ExCeL hospital to be put 'on standby'

No new cases expected at London's NHS Nightingale




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Slowly Slowly What's Urdu for That... Back in Skardu again Pakistan

Day 24Sleeping in Skardu via Machulo 2230m or maybe 2310m depending on your info sourceKarim is a late starter.Breakfast isn't until after 0800. We are not alone there are 3 other tourists American lawyers as it turns out we bump i




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Derbyshire 92 Chesterfield Boris is back the clouds were social distancing rain ahead for the Bank Holiday

Shall I let you into a little secret oh go on then . I am quite enjoying this walking . Lying in bed unable to drop off to sleep I sorted out in my mind where I was walking to in the morning . The weather whas a let down . Over the past few weeks someone